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this is very specific, but it always annoys me: when during an interview, or a game show, or something where there are multiple comedians, a joke is said about a subject, and then later on (10mins+) someone makes a joke out of the blue that is referring simply back to the previous joke.

it just reminds me that once they go off script, some stand ups are utterly shit and can't handle the pressure to be funny.

it's a way that the comedian makes the audience feel a connection, as though there's an us-and-them between them and the audience now with this reference that only those present at the time will understand.

It's pretty much the cornerstone of catchphrase-based comedy isn't it?

At the start, he'll show an amusing picture or short clip. Let's say it's a dog looking sad. That picture will then be the punchline to every single joke for the rest of the episode.
"I know someone else who's not pleased about the NHS reforms..."

Is fine in moderation, but when someone lays a true stinker and all the comedy elite fawn over it, it's tedious as all hell. It's not just because us 'non-comedy writers' don't like it, it's just objectively awful.

I was talking about one subject and held the audience with such captivation that it was as though we were the only ones in the room, one to one, a personal connection. So involved were they into my story, that when I changed the subject from nuclear war to spoons, the juxtaposition and jarring change of focus was a reminder that in fact I am the puppeteer, leading their minds on a journey, captivating them with entertainment. The delicate pause I left afterwards to give them time to take in this masterstroke extended our connection and reminded them that I too am human, though a great human indeed.

In the audiences mind:

Haha, the cunt got distracted and forgot what he was talking about and then decided to start talking about something completely different. What a dick.

Also -
1. people trying to be stewart lee that aren't stewart lee. Not saying he's cornered the market for that sort of comedy but... I remember seeing franz ferdinand as talking heads on some i love music channel 4 show and they said that you can always tell when somebody is trying to copy mark e smith... Same sort of thing.

2. When comedians go into the crowd or interact with the crowd beyond just using them as springboards for jokes.
Like taking the mic and walking about or going to the back of the room or whatever.
Its just such a cheap trick. They know that EVERY TIME without fail people will lose their shit, going 'oh the comedians not on the stage as they usually are ooh oh oh this is crazy!'

after a while I imagine it becomes very hard not to start involving the industry in your work, because that's your world now and because everyone seems to think you're really good at conveying things you really want to share your observations on it. The best artists either manage to make this not completely tedious and opaque to your average punter, or manage to keep their lives interesting in other ways so they've still got lots of other stuff to talk about.

He uses the "oh so you laughed at [something fairly controversial] but didn't laugh at [something that's initially more shocking but if you top to think a tad less controversial]" virtually every time (ie most of his DVDs and when I've seen him live).

Far too scripted. Fair enough when you have something interesting to say but few do.

Club circuit slayings, much like Saturday jobs for kids or local venue gigs for bands, gives you the ability to deal with any scenario and make something funny out of it. Few people can actually do that now it seems.

In fact weirdly it seems like most of the people I find funniest on telly now have never even attempted stand up (to my knowledge): David Mitchell, Miles Jupp, Richard Bacon, Charlie Brooker...

and haven't had the chance to plough their trade on the comedy circuit. Which is a bit of a shame tbh. Club comedians often knock ten shades of shit out of the touring ones, mainly because they have had to fight for their laughs.

yes I absolutely adore Rapeseed (Brassica napus), also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed (and, in the case of one particular group of cultivars, canola), which is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family). The name derives from the Latin for turnip, r?pa or r?pum, and is first recorded in English at the end of the 14th century. Older writers usually distinguished the turnip and rape by the adjectives round and long (-rooted), respectively.[2] See also Brassica napobrassica, which may be considered a variety of Brassica napus. Some botanists include the closely related Brassica campestris within B. napus. (See Triangle of U).

WHAS FUGGEN GARLI BREAD
GARLI BREAD
NEVER EATEN THAT
NEVER PLAN OE
EATING THE GARLI BREAD
GARLI ON ITS OWN FAIR ENOUGH AND I AM PARTIAL TO A BIT OF THE BRAD
BUT THE GARLI BREAD MAKES ME SIC TO ME STOMACH AUR NAN

"remember when, right, you're playing with your brother whilst drinking Rola Cola, and you broke something on your space hopper, then your Dad got home was like "what's all this then" and you and your brother are like "noooooooooooooo!"

Just don't find it remotely funny (I have banged on about this before, by the way). The main problem is how dumb the comedy audience is. Basically totally lose their shit if anyone swears (ha! he swore!), or on panel shows (which I actually find less offensive than stand up) when they walk around a bit (ha! he walked around a bit - round of applause, seriously that stuff is BRILLIANT). Standing there in their little suits, in front of their dumbass audience who have decided they are going to laugh at everything in advance to justify the ridiculous amount they paid to get in.

EH UP EVERYONE IN HERE IN THE SHOW REMEMBER THE OLD CARTOONS THEY HAD ON THAT TELLY LIKE THE FUNKY PHANTOM I ALWAYS THOUGHT TO MYSELF LIKE THEY SHOULD SPELL FUNKY WI BLEEDN PH LIKE PHUNKY PHANTOM ID ALWAYS SAY THEY COULDA GUARANTEED VIEWERS COULDNT THEE ID ALWAYS SAY THAT TO ME NAN AND SHED BE ALL SHUT IT THERE LAD AND KEEP WATCHIN THAT TELLY. I WAS ALWAYS WATCHING TELLY WI ME NAN ME WHEN I WAS A NIPPER WED BE WATCHING THE... FUNKY PHANTOM EH AND IT WAS ALWAYS THAT THING WUNT IT ITS ALWAYS THE PERSON THEY SEE AT START OF EPISODE IN THEM THE TEENAGERS AND THER PHANTOM THEYD SEE SOMEONE AT T ABANDONED RECREATION CENTRE AND HED BE ALL FUNNY LIKE I BET HE WAS A PAEDO EH A BLEEDN PAEDO LIKE HE WOULD BE NOW POLITICAL CORECTNES HEALTH N SAFTERY ANYWAYS AND ITS ALWAYS BE HIM AS THE MONSTER YOUD THINK THE TEENS HAVD OF FIGURED IT OUT AND THE PHANTOM WOULD AVE FIGURED IT OUT N ALL EH. ANYWAY ME OLD NAN WAS A RATE OLDEN ME NAN WAS SHED ALWAYS HAVE TO TURN UP TELLY WHEN SHE COULDNT EAR IT AND YOUD AVE TO SPEAK UP ONE TIME I ASKED FOR SOME EGGS AND SHE SAID EH WHATS THAT LAD WHAT YOU ASKIN ABOUT SEX FER AND AT THE TIME I WAS ONLY FOUR AND I JUST REPEATED I WANT SOME EGGS AND SO SHE TOOK ME DOWN LAKE TO HAVE ME BAPRISED. BAPRISM WAS THAT ALL ABOUT? THE DUNK YOU IN THE WATER IS LIKE SWIMMIN POOL INT IT CEPT YOU DONT GET VERUCCAS REMEMBER THEM YOUD HAVE TO WALK THROUGH THE VERUCCA THING FORE YOU WENT INT SWIMMING POOL AT SCHOOL AND YERD ALWAYS NO WHO HAD A VERUCCA WOULDNE YE CAUSE HED ALWAYS BE IN HIS SCHOOL UNIFORM DOIN SOME COLOURIN IN OR SOMETHIN EH HAHAHAHAHA EH I SEE THIS GUY ERE THIS GUY ERE IM ERE THIS GUY ERE HE WAS ONE OF THE FELLERS WHO HAD A VERUCCA AT THE SWIMINGS EH WHATS YOUR NAME MATE? WHAT? DENNIS HAVERYEHGANHAGAN THATS A SHITE NAME THAT EH WHERE DO YOU COME FROM? BERLIN? WHATS YOUR JOB MATE? WHAT I.T.? OH AYE TELLIN EVERYONE T SWITCH IT OFF ANDON AGAIN DUNT YER BE CHCKIN MA INTERNET ISTORY... OR BLEEDN DO IF YOU WANT SUMMAT TO READ AFTER YERVE FINISHED 50 SHADES OF GREY. HAHAHA EH THE WOMEN WHY DO YOU WAN READ THE PORN I LIIKE TO WATCH IT ON A SCREEN LIKE WHAT MEN DO ALSO WHY DO YOU TKE LONG TO GT READY I LIKE TO SUCCINTLY DRESS FOR ME NGHTS OUT ITS AMOST AS IF YOUVE GOT A BLEEDIN ITINIERY BUT A REALLY LONG UN AEH. REMEMBER ITINERIARYS? YOUD ALWAYS AVE TO FOLLER EM WOULDNT YER? AAAAH THANKS A LOT BERLN YOUVE BEEN A GREAT AUDIENCE REMEMBER THAT WALL EH THANKS VERY MUCH BYE

pour examplah, there was an advert for John Bishop's DVD round Christmas where he was all like 'EY UP 50 SHAYUDS O GREY I THOUGH THAA WAS A DULUX CATALOGU EEHH' and the audience were all shatting their arses out laughing.

But that joke had already been the topic of about a million Facebook groups anyway. And was shite to begin with as well.

Also, ON THAT SUBJECT, any really lame attempt to jump on a zeitgeisty topic that quickly becomes cliche and dull -- like jokes about Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey. JUS SHUT UPA YR FACEMOUTH

like that first world problem where you can't think of ideas so just take them wholesale from the Internet

also Internet references rarely work outside of the Internet -- I can find Youtube clips on my own, it isn't the collapse of society if someone tweets that they didn't like yr sitcom, and saying 'lol' with your actual human mouth just sounds embarrassing